Improved ditohing-maohine



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Letters Patent No. 76,788, dated April' 14, 1868.

-IMPROVBD DITGHING-MAOHINE.

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TO ALL WHOM 1T .MAY CONCERN:

Be it known that I, JOHN MASTERS, of Wuukegaln in the county of Lake, and Sta-te of'Illinois, have invented a new and improved Drain-Plough; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the same, sufficient to enable those skilled in'the art to which my invention appcrtains ,to make use of it, Areference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming part of this specification, inwhich- Figure 1 is a side elevation, and

Figure 2, a top view of 'my invention.

-This invention combines with a new form'of plough, a new device for adjusting it, and a new arrangement of the wheel, by'which the working ofthe elevator is improved.

' Inthe drawings, A represents the forward and B the rear wheels, Aand B being the corresponding axles. The axles are connected by an iron coupling-frame, C, the forward end ofwhich rests upon the fore axle, and is attached to it by the king-bolt.

D is the elevator-box, containing the elevator E, an endless apron, constructed by conncctinga series of angle-iron plates, e e, together by two' endless chains, e' e,`asvshown in iig. 2. The apron thus formed is car. ried upon two rollers, FF, one ofjvhich receives motion from therear axle through the medium'of gea-rwheels G G. The dirt carried back upenthe apron is discharged through a pivoted chute, H. A

I represents the plough, whiclris pivoted to. the forward en d of thei elevator-box upon the Iionrnals of the v roller-shaft F. The plough is' of peculiar construction, being formed with two land-sides, it', terminating in front in sharp steel points, and between them a concave double mould-board, i', the frontier cutting-edge of whichis curved, as shown at z'" in fig. 2. Stout curved arms, I If, extend-upward and forward from the land-sides till they meet at I, where they unite and form a single arm, which projects forward still further, 'terminating at v. The arm 1 thus formed is for the purpose of regulating the plough, as will be hereafter explained. A From the forward end of the coupling-frame C, rise two slightly-curved standards J' J, surmounted by c.

`cross-bar, J', containing a truck, a. A strong forked and slotted beam, M,`is rmly fixed at its rear end to the sides of the elevator-box, terminating at its front end between the standards J J. A. cord, c, passes from this end of the beam over the truck a, and down to a roller, K, provided with a crank, ratchet, and pawl,

which serve to wind up or unwind the cord, and'thus to raise or depress the forward end of the elevator-box 4 und the plough I. e

From the arm I, a vertical standard, N, rises, passing through a slot in the beam M, and terminating, at its upper end, in a segmental rack, n. 'lhis standard can be raised or depressed at pleasure, and fixed at any degree of elevation by means of a pin, m, operating in a series of holesin the standard, as seenin fig. 1. As it rises and falls, it carries` the arm I with it, raising or depressing thev point of the plough. y this means the plough can be always kept in a horizontal position, however inclined tho elevator may be, and however deep in the ground'thc plough may be operating. l A

A hund-lever, L, provided with a snap-trigger, t, which operates in the ruck muis pivoted to the upper end ofthe standard N. A connecting-rod,1t, ex'tcnds from the forward end of this lever down tofa horizontal frame, O, which is pivoted to the land-sides of thc plough, and extends a few feet in front of the plough; The roller-wheel W has'its bearingsin the pivoted frame, and is'adjusted so as toI come in contact with the ground nearly between the plough-points. By adjusting the wheel thus neart'o the plougln'the sod and dirt are con-A fined to the ploughand forced back upon the elevator. The wheel can bc' iixed at any elevation by Vmeans; of the hand-lever L, which raises or dcpresses the forward end of the frame in `which itvbcars.

A drain-plough thus constructed, operates with great efiiciency, cutting the 4drain rapidly,andcarrying oithe dirt perfectly as it moves along. The device abovepdescribed for regulating the position of the plough so as to keep it always horizontal, is of great utility, causing the machine 'to work much more easilyv in deep ditching than Athe othei` machines hitherto iXi-use. The advantage ofi'arranging the wheel W at lthe ploughpoint has been already referred to. It is found in practice that this arrangement.prevents'thedirt from clogging thc plough, forcing buck upon the mould-boa1'd, ancl discharging it upon the elevator in the most perfect manner. t

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by'Letters Patent, i s 1; I cluimthe'pivoted plough I, when constructed and arranged so as to ble adjustnble'- in u. horizontal position upon the' elevutorbox D, :it whatverdepth in the ground it may be opernting, in combination with the elevator-box D, as ihereindescrbed. Y v

' 2. I claim the plough I, when constructed 'with twolandlsides z' z', the concave double mould-board i', the c urved cutting4edgc i, andthe arms I I, substantif-illy as and for the purpose specified.

3. I clnix'n the wheel W, rendered adjustiblo in the manner herein described, when arranged so as to operate in combination with und at the plough-point, substantially as und for the purpose specified.

' JOHN MASTERS,

Witnesses 0. Ruoron, SAML. A. Low.- 

